The Republican journal., 1887-12-01
4 Strange Story of the Sea,


from its mothers doorstep on the shores of
lalfmoon bay to it, playground on the smooth,
i'ebbiy beacE, where it was accustomed to pass
the sunny hours in innocent play. gathering
shiny shells, bright pebbles. and gay sea moses
10 carry home 10 add to its little hoard of treas
ures. There was no thought Of danger In the
mothers mindas She saw her little ore 20 with
unsteady steps down toward the shore, where
the Wavelets. tapping on the strand, We're
throwing ,iD tie Objects for which the little
toI;litr ila;ie 4 daily search. The hours passed
oii and al length the mother. becoming anxious
III the prolonged absence cf her baby went to
the door to cal! her home. She scanned the
long stretch of the beach. but the little one
was nowhere to be seen. The tide which was
tthe ebb when the litt!c one left her home had
come in, and there was nothing but white
sand to be seen as far as the eye could reach.
y search among the neighbor> houses brought
10 tidings Of the little one. and the mother,
now thoroughly alarmed assisted by other men-
ber> of the family, began IN anxious search for
the missing babe. The afternoon and evening
Wore aw"y, and through the night The friends
and neighh0rs kent UP the search among the
sandhiits and Shrubs which lined the beach, but
without avail. Not trace could be found of
the child.
The hour. leng;hcnel into DAYS and the
finding the child alive We're concerned, but still
the sorroWing mother made her daily search
along the beach where her baby had been wont
to play, hoping TO find something which would
give 1T least a clcw to the fate of her darling.
one day. third or fourth after the disappear-
ancc Of the child, the mother found a little
bundle of clothing, Tct and torn by the waves.
which covered the remains of her little one. the
body having been cast up by the sea during the
night.
Catching the body up. she ran with it to the
little house from which the light seemed to
have fed with the loss of the child.
The little body was prepared by tender hands
for burial. but it was found that the right foot
of the little one was missing. 1t was supposed
that the child had fallen from reef of rocks
which ran out into deep water and had been
drowned, and that some fish or sea monster
had eaten of the foot. There seemed to be no
mystery about the death, and the other child
rem Of the family We're wont to listen with
awe as the mother told IN the cleaning, how
the little sister wandered away from home and
was drowned. The children grew up and mar
ried and bad little ones of their own. and the
grandmother told again to 4 new set of auditors
how her little baby girl went out to play and
was killed by the cruel sea.
Simple as the death of the child seemed at
the time. it turns out to have been one of those
mysteries of the sea which are only revealed by
accident. short time ago one OF the sons Of
the old lady, and brother of the lost girl, pick
cd up on the beach piece of Il large abalone
shell which had been thrown up by the tide. He
was attracted by the bright colors of the shell,
and As he turned the shell to look at the inside
he was astomished to find attached to the intc-
rior of the shell the perfect representation of
chds shoe. Even to the little break in the
toe, where the leather had worn away, every
detail was reproduced In the brilliant colors
which are characteristic of the interior of the
abalone shell. Little thinking of the mystery re-
vealcd by the reproduction by nature of
babl's shoe, the young man carried the shell
home as curiosity. The first person to whom
lie showed ii was his mother. No sooner did the
old lady the curiosity than she exclaimed:
at is my baby's shoe The shoe of my little Girl
that was lost twenty-siX years ago."
The rest of the family ridiculed the idea, but
going to drawer, such rs most mothers have
in their house, she produced the mate to the
shoe. A careful comparison showed that the
lime-incrnsted shoe in the shell and the me-
mento of the dead child, carefully kept by a low
Ing mother through the long years that she had
mourned her little one, were undoubtedly
mates.
The mystery of the child's death was reveal
ed Il, last. Any one who knows the nature and
habits of the abalonc can readily understand
what occurred. The little one had ventured out
IN the rocky reef and in her cambering had
slipped from the Shiny, moss-covered rocks in
to the shallow water below
Perhaps nothing more than Il wetting would
have happened to her, but as fate would have
it her tiny foot slipped between the rock and
the edge of huge abaone which was ciinging
TO the rock. The shell at once closed on the
tender ankle. and the little one was a prisoner.
to be held till the rising tide swept over her
and put an end to the innocent life. 1t may be
that she was thrown into the water and held
by the vce-like grip to the univaye SO that her
agony was brief. or she may have been held ull-
Til the slowly rising waters chokcd her feeble
cries for help.
Such cases are not unknown. A few years
ago a Chinese was frequently seen in San
Diego whose right hand with the exception of
the thumb and foreiinger, was gone. The story
told by his mates was that while hunting aba
lones on the reef he incautiously inserted his
fingers under the sharp edge of an abalone she'll
Before he could withdraw them the shell had
closed down. He lay on the rock held by the
hand till the tide began to come i'm. Seeing his
danger and realizing that he had only himself
to depend upon for aid, he managed to get out
his knife with his left hand and by dnt of hard
work hacked off the imprisoned fingers and re-
leased himself.
On another occasion gentleman connected
with one OF the newspapers in this city was
wandering with some friends on the reefs near
Cypress Point at Monterey. His companions
had gone ahead, and as he hurried on to over
take them he slipped in hole on the reef
His foot went into the mouth, as it may be
called, of an abalone. To his horror he was un-
able to eNtricate himself. 1t was just about
the turn of the tide and realizing his danger
he shouted Justify for help Fortunately the
other members Of the party were not too far
away to hear him and they returned to his
ed into the pool, and with large knife cut the
cartilage with which the mousk held the shell
claspcd to the rock. Had help not been at
hand he would have been drowned by the In
coming tide, and In all probability his fate
would forever have remained mystery. [San